<p>We also have a Honda Civic Hibrid. We love everything about it. It’s a 2006, with over 70k miles on it, and we are still getting great mileage (high 40’s to sometimes over 50 in the summer, low 40’s to occasionally less in the winter if it’s a really snowy, windy period.) My husband is 6’1 and very comfortable in it.</p>
<p>One thing to note is that the 2011 Fit has electronic stability control throughout the whole lineup. In 2009-2010, only the top trim (Sport with Navigation) had electronic stability control. Electronic stability control can help avoid completely losing control in some situations if you drive faster than the normal handling capability of the car (e.g. in an emergency avoidance maneuver like swerving around a small child who steps out into the road without looking).</p>
<p>Anyone ever tried pricing a new car via the internet? I just submitted online requests for quotes to 3 dealers through edmunds.com. I’m really interested to see what sort of response I get.</p>
<p>I priced my last new car on cars.com – found the closest dealer with the car I wanted (right color, trim, etc.)… emailed him an offer. They accepted my offer, we FAX’d a couple of things back and forth and I picked it up a couple of days later. Easy!</p>
<p>Really like the Prii I’ve owned. First one is now in possession of my college attending daughter. Her friends make fun of her because they think the car is nerdy. It is a 2005. Second one is mine, a 2010. Both are very reliable and comfortable and do not encourage reckless driving which is nice. . . especially for young drivers. I’ve never had any problems with either of these cars or any other Toyotas I’ve owned for that matter.</p>
<p>The new Prius no longer has the little button on the door handle. When we bought the Fit we also thought about buying another Prius and noticed the change. You either have to lock up before you close the door or fish in your pocket and pull out the transponder and push the button on it.</p>
<p>I love going keyless! My Miata is also that way and I love not having to go up to my armpit in my purse to get my keys. I made H change out the lock on the house door to keyless so that I never have to pull out my keys at all.</p>
<p>I bought my Honda Fit almost exactly a year ago. At the time, Honda had a special - $500 off and 0.9% financing. Two things about purchase price:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I did get quotes online and they were about $900 cheaper than when I went into the dealership. They just flat out had cheaper prices if you went through the internet. No negotiating from anyone. Well, I negotiated the heck out of the extended warranty and got it for about a third what they wanted to start. I got it for $800 vs. the $2,200-ish they quoted it when I was actually in signing papers - I was perfectly happy not buying it if they didn’t get it below $1,000. </p></li>
<li><p>When I was looking to buy it, Carmax was selling used ones with 10,000-13,000 for about $1,000 MORE than I could get a new one. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, mine is manual transmission, so it was about $1,000 cheaper than automatic.</p>
<p>Yes, the manual is cheaper. I learned to drive in a manual (most people in England do - or did way back then anyway), but I really prefer an automatic.</p>
<p>I checked out the same two cars a year and a half ago. Then I drove a VW Jetta tdi–turbo diesel. Spectacular. I love the way it drives, the handling, everything. It cost a bit more than the others, but I found it way superior. I get between 40 and 45 miles per gallon, with plenty of power–lots more than the Prius or the Fit. Unfortunately, apparently the 2011 Jetta is different, and reviews say that it’s not an improvement. Still might be worth a look.</p>
<p>H and I had a conversation yesterday at lunch on this subject. He dislikes the Prius. Talked about the Fit and the Hyundai. He liked the idea of the Chevy Volt till he saw the prices. The funny thing is that 2 months ago he considered buying a Ford F150 to replace his work car. He decided he liked what he has and didn’t buy anything. Now he is thinking about a better mileage car to drive around town and to keep his large gas guzzler for jobs that required supplies and to take up to the mountains for snowboarding. He has a good friend who is over 6 feet tall who is happy with his Fit.</p>
<p>
I got my last car this way, I requested a quote through Edmunds and got 4 offers back.</p>
<p>They were all pretty good, and fairly close to each other.</p>
<p>The biggest sticking point was my trade-in - no one really wanted my 12 year old car with 130,000+ miles, can’t imagine why. </p>
<p>I’m pretty big, and I was surprised how much room there is in the front seats of a Prius. Back seat looked pretty cramped but I haven’t sat back there.</p>
<p>Also, if you can wait until June 2012 or so, the plug-in Prius will be out, which should come with around a $3000 Federal tax credit, which should cover a large percentage of the price difference. It will have a range of about 14 all-electric miles.</p>
<p>I don’t think my current car will make it till 2012.</p>
<p>Interesting responses to the online quote requests. Some Honda dealers are much more responsive about sending me quotes than others. Not much response from Toyota dealers except one pretty good quote on a more loaded one than I asked about. I would prefer to buy from the dealer in the city I drive to 5 days a week but have had no response from him. A dealer in the city 50 miles further away (so 100 miles from me) has sent me the best Fit price so far. </p>
<p>I had to provide a phone number so put my cell number down but put that I preferred email contact. Darn phone keeps buzzing at me but I’m not answering it.</p>
<p>Sitting doing a spreadsheet of prices for cars and comparisons for what gas will cost me over say 5 years. I am being much more technical than I usually am when I car shop. Fit is beginning to take the lead from a finances point of view.</p>
<p>ooh - just got a slightly better quote plus $75 walmart gift certificate for doing a test drive and a free entertainment center if I buy a car. What, no sock monkey toy? (some dealer ship was actually advertising a sock monkey toy as an incentive a few weeks back yes, seriously).</p>
<p>You are smart not to talk to the car dealers on the phone. When you get close to buying, be sure you get the quotes via email and then print them out and take them with you. I’ve used the Edmunds quote method to buy two cars now. The Honda dealer from whom I bought a CRV was great and the process was completely straightforward. When I tried the same thing with a BMW I encountered all kinds of smarmy behavior and needed my printed out quotes (don’t get those too early or they will say the time has run out). One of the complications with the BMW was the trade-in value which varied by almost $4000. If someone knows a good way to use the Edmunds quote system and trade in a used car, I’m all ears.</p>
<p>Make sure you check the manufacturer website as well, and look for specials that pertain to your area. There is $1000 cash back on Prii in many areas; not sure about current deals on Fits and Leafs.</p>
<p>I received an amazing quote via the Costco car program online for a 2011 HOnda CRV SE 4 WD about a month ago. Dealer sent it via email. It was several hundered dollars below the best Truecar.com price for our zip code.<br>
We decided to wait till end of summer and maybe pick up even a better deal on a 2011 or maybe a 2012. Hope our old minivan makes it that long.</p>
<p>We’ll definitely use costco or truecar when we are ready.</p>
<p>We got a Fit last summer and love it. I wanted a car that would get good gas mileage and would fit in any parking place. H wanted a car that would fit a pinball machine. </p>
<p>I mostly drive around town - very little freeway - and am currently getting 32 mpg. H commuted from the south bay to SF for a week last summer and said he got 38 mpg.</p>
<p>It’s not luxurious, and it’s not a sports car by any means. But all in all, it’s a great value. I feel especially smug when I see someone with a big car driving around SF looking for parking, and I pull into a space that s/he had to pass up.</p>
<p>I love my Prius. </p>
<p>One day I was making a left turn and a huge black SUV going way over the speed limit suddenly appeared in the opposite lane. I floored it and my Prius responded instantly and got me out of the way in time. If I had been driving my previous car, I’d probably be dead.</p>
<p>My 2008 Fit gets substantially better freeway mileage than stop’n’go, which is maybe even under 25 mpg. I am 5’2" with short, short arms & legs, and I can’t really get the seat adjusted right; I think it is made for taller people. I also understand the seats were changed since 2008. The car holds a ton or at least 500 boxes of Girl Scout cookies without any problem. Folding down the seats in their various configurations is no problem at all even for a non-mechanical and unintuitive dufus like me. If I were buying now, I think I would also look into the Ford Focus.</p>
<p>The price points of the Prius and Fit are a bit different. All the Prius owners I know are happy with their cars.</p>
<p>Prius '08-'09 owner. DW complains that she spends close to $30 for a fill.
I’m hitting $40 on a Civic.
As gas become more expensive, milage and current expense becomes more important.</p>